Multi-starrer fantasy comedy film ‘Maha Veeryar’ starring Nivin Pauly and Asif Ali in lead roles releases on 21st July, 2022. Written and Directed by Abrid Shine, this fantasy themed biggie has faced way too many road-blocks until it locked a release date. Not only is Maha Veeryar one of the most anticipated movies of the year owing to the cryptic tone of its promotional materials and quirky genre-mixes, but also is an acid test to both its leading men Asif Ali and Nivin Pauly.
Maha Veeryar is the third collaboration between Nivin Pauly and Abrid Shine as actor-director duo. The director made his debut in the year 2014 with 1983 starring Nivin Pauly which was a commercial success. He went on to work with Nivin Pauly again in Action Hero Biju (2016) which was also a box-office success. His next outings Poomaram (2018) and The Kung Fu Master (2020) had dismal box office performances. So Abrid coming back to his game with Nivin Pauly again is a leaf of hope for the director and actor as well.
Nivin Pauly has been having some really upsetting misfires commercially since Love Action Drama (2019), his only successful venture in years. Moothon (2019) was a festival favourite film but its commercial returns were pathetic. With no theatrical or streaming release in the year 2020, Nivin’s next release was Kanakam Kamini Kalaham (2021) on Disney+Hotstar. Much to the disappointment of his fans and well-wishers, the film didn’t do well. Despite all these road-blocks, Nivin Pauly had a ray of hope in Rajeev Ravi’s Magnum Opus ‘Thuramukham’ which should have released in the year 2020. However, even in 2022 the release is being pushed frequently. There is no clarity on the release of the film even today. This is where Maha Veeryar comes into play. Not only is the film looking promising because of its focus on crowd favourite genres and sub-genres like time travel, fantasy, comedy and court-room drama, the film also has an emotional core. Nivin Pauly aces comedy genre, so if made well Maha Veeryar could bring back Nivin’s lost mojo.
Coming to Asif Ali, the actor hasn’t had a commercially hit film since Kettyolaanu ente Malakha (2019). He’s done around 5 films post Kettyolaanu ente Malakha and only one of the five had a moderate box-office success. Most of the films the actor has done in recent times were utterly bad in content. For example: Innale Vare. Even when the actor made good films like ‘Kuttavum Shikshayum’ with Rajeev Ravi, the box office returns didn’t change. There was also minimal scope for the actor to shine well in many of the films he did recently. Maha Veeryar looks very much like a game-changer for the actor for now. Not only is the film going to tap his comedic potential after Honey Bee series, but could also change the career of the actor for it’s a big ticket multi-starrer film.
A well made comedy definitely attracts family audiences. If you add some fantasy and emotions to it? The audience is going to celebrate the film. Fingers crossed for Maha Veeryar to change the course of Nivin Pauly’s and Asif Ali’s career.